Troubling details emerge in Alex de Minaur's Covid-19 case
Alex de Minaur's mother has provided more details about the "crushing" Covid-19 dilemma that forced the Aussie tennis star to pull out of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Reports emerged on Friday that the 22-year-old has tested positive for coronavirus, effectively ending any hopes of him representing Australia at the Olympics.
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The Aussie No.1 was in for a real chance at claiming a medal for the Green and Gold, with a number of high profile tennis stars withdrawing from the Games due to a raft of different reasons.
De Minaur's mother Esther described the setback as "awful" and "devastating" and revealed that her son has been left in a bad state emotionally.
“It is awful, it is crushing,” she told News Corp Australia.
“We are all so shocked. He was so looking forward to it, he loves representing his country.”
De Minaur has reportedly received one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, before receiving the news of his positive test.
The Aussie's mum says no close contacts of the tennis star have contracted the virus and he still doesn't know how he got it.
“He is devastated and he doesn’t want to talk to anyone right now,” she added.
“He is in his own mental bubble trying to deal with the situation.”
Fellow Aussie stars test negative
De Minaur left the Wimbledon bubble and moved to Spain ahead of the Games.
The Aussie hadn't come into contact with any other Australian players ahead of his planned arrival in Tokyo.
De Minaur, who lost his first-round match at Wimbledon last month, was picked for the singles and was also planning to partner with John Peers in the doubles.
"We are very disappointed for Alex and he is shattered, not being able to come," Australian team chef de mission Ian Chesterman said at a Tokyo news conference on Friday morning.
"No other tennis players have had physical contact with Alex since he left Wimbledon on July 5, where he tested negative.
"All other Australian players have tested negative since. We look forward to welcoming those athletes into our team."
Chesterman said de Minaur's positive test showed the measures put in place to protect the Olympic athletes from the virus were working.
"We need to protect this bubble and Alex has been caught up in that system," he said.
"While we will miss Alex, he understands the reasons why he cannot be with us."
Chesterman was hopeful that Peers, who was only picked for the doubles, would still be able to compete in Tokyo.
All athletes arriving in Tokyo must undergo a 96-hour and 72-hour Covid-19 test before departure.
with agencies
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